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Ledosian
Anatomy/Biology Types: A rare subspecies of Ledosian exists, whereupon a mental instability at birth causes spontaneous corruption of their natural form. Members of this subspecies are called Pravus, or simply Nightmares, as they take on a darkened form more similar to ichor than gas, gain increased strength in their telekinetic powers, but care about nothing except murdering all life around them. Pravus are typically identified and killed at birth to keep their insanity from spreading to corrupt healthy Ledosians. However, an adult Ledosian that undergoes a sufficiently traumatic event may morph into a Nightmare as their mind breaks from the stress. Description: A race of aliens with a spectral appearance, including translucent bodies which, similarly to deep sea jellyfish, are more defined by the glowing outline of their translucent, silvery-blue skin than the barely visible center of their mass. They are humanoid in shape, sporting bipedal limbs with five-digit hands, an upright stance, a proper head, and the contours of body muscles visible in the outlines of their skin. However, they have no faces, no discernible orifices or external organs of any kind, including visible differences in gender, and are essentially identical to each other in every way. Their glowing skin is solid to the touch. It has a texture similar to sandpaper or shark skin, but is somewhat pliant, like the surface of a balloon filled taut with incredible pressure. An aura of sweet-smelling, silvery-blue gas seeps from their skin, adding to their ethereal appearance. Though some gas is also visible swirling within their bodies, it is not as defined as the skin color itself, which seems to be where the majority of the color and light collects. The only other thing visible inside their bodies is a luminescent, golden organ suspended in their upper torso, with tendrils spreading through the body to all of its limbs, especially the head. Diet: A specific variety of gasses native to their homeworld and/or certain gas giants. They absorb these gasses naturally through the skin, providing them the only sustenance they need to survive, and do not otherwise "eat" as one would define the term. Male/Female Average Height: 6.5 feet Average Weight: Less than 50 lbs. Average Build: Identical, athletic, and muscular. Coloration: Silvery-blue gasses and skin, gold internal organs, all glowing with bio-luminescence. Average Lifespan: 180 years Extra: Ledosians are essentially a gaseous race with inflated skin. Their skin is made from an organic crystalline mesh that grows naturally for them, which is semi-permeable to certain gasses to allow for respiration, but also solid and flexible enough to help maintain the right internal body pressure and protect against accidental puncture. The appearance of muscles is caused by eddies within their internal gasses, as pressure shifts against the skin to produce both movement and strength, which allows them to physically manipulate the environment around them. Their heads, though faceless, contain the most dense nerve bundles compared to the rest of their internal organs, acting as a sensory bulb while their brains actually reside in the center of their chests. They can speak (and listen) by vibrating their skin against the surrounding atmosphere, creating a deep, echoing, omnidirectional voice that normal beings can hear. The gasses that seep from their skin act as a mild euphoric, a byproduct of their respiration that can make the average being somewhat clouded in their presence, which can sometimes lead to odd turns in communication as the other party might behave as if mildly drugged after being in an enclosed space with a Ledosian for too long. The strength of these effects will vary between each race involved. Reproduction is done asexually. Two Ledosians that feel moved by their bonds of friendship may join together, forming an amorphous mass that loses its humanoid traits for a total of 3 days, whereupon it splits again into a half dozen cells. These cells then rest for at least a week while they recover their strength until they can grow limbs and rejoin the rest of the race at work. Newborn Ledosians share the joined memories of their parents, making the entire race generally immortal in terms of passed on experiences, which both supports their history and promotes reproduction as a blessing between partners so their bonds together may spread. They are also a mildly psychic race. Skilled in psychic echolocation, they use this power to see the world around them in place of organic vision. This ability also allows them to identify other psychic beings on sight due to the brighter "glow" a Ledosian would perceive-- though the latent psionic energy even regular humans hold would be a confusing subject for them. Each of them is also mildly linked together through telepathy. Though not a hive mind, when nearby another Ledosian, they are aware of each other's presence, location, moods, and intentions. This makes it easier for them to cooperate without directly communicating, as well as for members of the same species to convey the need for help if they are in danger, without drawing external attention. It is said that there can be no traitors or spies within the race because they all share similar motives and wouldn't get away with betraying each other even if the opportunity arose. Finally, Ledosians have a mild telekinetic ability which they use to augment their strength, pushing or lifting solid objects in addition to their physical efforts that their gaseous bodies could not handle alone. This is the general limit of their telekinetic powers. However, in the case of a Nightmare/Pravus, this ability is heightened, allowing the user to lift small objects like tools, pebbles, and debris to fling at targets with bullet-like force. Politics System: Cerbas Ascendancy. Ethnic theocracy. Values: Faith, loyalty, and cooperation in service to the Tellurion, their apparent holy saviors from the Dom'Kavosh, in the name of the Tellurion's Gods. Religion: Ascendant Star, a faith surrounding the tenets of the Four-Point Star introduced by Tellurion religion. Settlements/Colonies: The Cerbas Ascendancy territories. Outposts throughout the Ven'Ledos system, which include their homeworld, 11 planets, two of which havae populated rings, an asteroid belt, and various moons. None outside their home star system. Diplomacy: Their first encounter with spacefaring life was the Dom'Kavosh. Although the Ledosians survived overall, the destructive nature of those attacks has led to a mild xenophobia when it comes to encountering other races. They are incredibly cautious in every meeting and expect all aliens who aren't a part of the Cerbas Ascendancy to potentially attack them at any given time. Age of Spacefaring Civilization: Roughly 8,000 years ago. Technology Military: Heavily defensive. Civilian: All Ledosians serve equal roles. Though not a military state, all are prepared to fill whichever position is needed, with no true specialization between them or the technology available to use. Overview: Due to Dom'Kavosh attacks in early Ledosian history, they have devoted the vast majority of their resources to the science of military research. Their ships are larger and stronger than one would expect from a small government led by a singular race. They work hard under the assumption that, at any moment, their dire enemies could either return to attack once more or a new enemy will be discovered that might attack them just as badly. Therefore, all outposts and stations are armored fortresses. All ships are built for war first, transportation second, and diplomacy third. While not aggressive themselves, the Ledosians are more than equipped to defend themselves. Racial Information Traditions: Ledosians worship the Tellurion race as messengers from the Gods, and routinely make offerings of refined minerals to their leaders as tribute for apparent salvation. They also hold joined communes in large numbers where they may all merge together using their empathic powers and celebrate the blessings of their achievements and livelihood. Otherwise, their faith is reserved for these moments of worship, and they live secularly in devotion to science and the advancement of their kind. Conflicts/Issues: * Corruption: The existence of Pravus in Ledosian society brings about a mild strain when it comes to reproduction, as faulty offspring can spread madness like an infectious curse instead of the blessing they were meant to be. In theory, any Ledosian that turns away from the values of their people can become a Nightmare as a result, which is used to promote loyalty at the cost of obedience. Due to Ledosian communal empathy, the fear of experiencing a Nightmare's madness secondhand has given rise to the belief that such violence is contagious. The only recorded capture and prolonged study of Pravus kind has indeed led to the eventual corruption of Ledosians involved in the project. For the safety of the public, though, all Nightmares are immediately destroyed under the assumption that this effect cannot be controlled. The question of whether or not such monsters are actually infectious or can be coaxed into recovering their Ledosian identity with proper therapy has been deemed too risky and will never be attempted-- one of the few points of contention the people have at all. * Physical Weakness: Despite the toughness and flexibility of their skin, Ledosians are physically weaker than most races. Their gaseous insides make them buoyant in most environments, ridding them of the strength needed to accomplish most tasks alone. Because of this, their sciences have worked to develop machinery meant to assist in their physical efforts when away from home. All Ledosians outside the orbit and gravitational constraints of their home moon wear Level 4 Powered Armor as both a physical augmentation for alien environments and a defense in battle should their vessel be attacked. Details will be provided elsewhere. * Mild Xenophobia: Other than the Tellurion whom they see as saviors, the only alien contact Ledosians have had was with the Dom'Kavosh. The aggressiveness of the Dom'Kavosh in combination with the Tellurion ethnocentric faith has taught all Ledosians that aliens are hostile and untrustworthy. They have the ability to communicate, negotiate, and strike deals with other races. But everything must be for an extreme benefit to the Cerbas Ascendancy and outsiders are not permitted to know the location of their home system, nor gain an advantage that can be used against the Ledosians should they choose to betray a deal. Relevant History Ledosians evolved in a star system. Originally a peaceful, curious race, they were content to explore the limits of their star system and nothing more. Their homeworld, Ledos, was the only moon of several orbiting the gas giant Ventus within their system that circled between the giant's atmosphere and its rings, rather than beyond them. Ventus was a gas giant larger than Jupiter that held a mass of dark matter in its core as a contributing factor to Ledosian evolution and psychic ability. Then, out of nowhere, one of the Ledosian exploration ships encountered a vessel made of dark energy on the edge of their system. Attempts to raise communications with the newcomers resulted in the immediate destruction of their ship. Soon thereafter, all Ledosian vessels throughout the system were hunted down and destroyed by the mysterious aggressor (known elsewhere as the Dom'Kavosh). The Ledosians panicked and worked to fortify their world against impending invasion... but the race to make landfall on their moon was not the same. Arriving from below the surface of Ventus, the gas giant that Ledos closely orbited, came a spherical creature of incredible psychic power. It accepted the name Tellurion after the concentric spinning of its exoskeletal rings. Apparently its kind, a hive mind whereupon individual nodes all shared a single, joined will, evolved much closer to the dark matter core of Ventus than the Ledosians had on their orbiting moon. This made them all naturally powerful... but they lacked the ability to produce complex machinery due to their lack of mineral resources and limbs. The Tellurion had constructed simple probes to explore the system alongside the Ledosians, all of which were destroyed by the Dom'Kavosh as well. Now they proposed a deal; the Ledosians would provide support in the form of labor and obedience and the Tellurion mind would lend its full capacity to helping them advance their sciences so they would eventually be able to defeat the alien threat together. Decades passed as the two cooperated in the makings of a mighty military. Risky expeditions launched by the Ledosians gathered resources from the rings and moons orbiting Ventus. Great care was taken to avoid attracting the attention of the ever-feared aggressors that might destroy their homeworld if they noticed what was going on. And the Tellurion helped greatly as a leading force for the project until the first true fleet of warships had been finally assembled. Crewing the fleet together, both races headed out beyond Ventus's rings... to find nothing. The Dom'Kavosh had long since left their system behind as they would in the pattern of their standard invasions everywhere else. Ignorant of that fact, though, the Tellurion convinced their Ledosian allies that it was their genius and the power of their religion that frightened the dark aggressors away. Since then, the entire Ledosian populace has converted to the Tellurion religion of the Ascendant Star, and together they operate a spacefaring government called the Cerbas Ascendancy, which is just beginning to venture out into the galaxy (extremely late in terms of galactic history) in search of resources and knowledge to use in the continued advancement of their society. Category:Playable Race